The British Columbia History Digitization Program (BCHDP) is an annual funding program run by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC), which promotes increased access to BC’s historical resources by providing matching funds to undertake digitization projects that will result in free online access to unique historical material from around the province. The BCHDP welcomes applications from private or public institutions and agencies that have the preservation of historical British Columbia materials as part of their mandate. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, libraries, archives, museums, historical societies and post-secondary institutions. For more information on applying to the BCHDP, visit the official BCHDP website.

Since 2017, the British Columbia Electronic Library Network (BC ELN) and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre have been partnering to allow successful past and future BCHDP grant recipients the option of hosting their digitized material on Arca, BC's collaborative digital repository, at no cost. BC ELN once again partnered with IKBLC in 2021 to pilot the BC ELN-BCHDP Support Service, which offers vital support to prospective BCHDP grant applicants seeking to bring their unique collections online. For more information about these opportunities, please visit the BC ELN Arca Partnerships page.

Arca is a collaborative initiative that puts the development and implementation of a digital repository within reach for every organisation, at a reasonable cost, and in a supported environment. Arca exists to create opportunities to share digital scholarship and heritage, and to build communities in British Columbia and beyond; for access, discovery, and knowledge creation, with cost-effective, shared infrastructure.

The partnerships between BC ELN and IKBLC leverage the respective capacities of each, so that both can achieve a common goal of supporting access to British Columbia’s remarkable wealth of digital assets. Arca, administered by BC ELN, is a robust, standards-based, provincially shared platform that will make BCHDP materials openly available and discoverable. IKBLC’s investment in the platform will enhance Arca's sustainability, increase the value of the tool for BC learners and researchers, and advance the community of practice that nurtures the service.

For more information about Arca hosting, contact the Arca Administrative Centre.